This week on Wednesday Wing we are looking at Hashtags from a different view.

I’ve been using Twitter for so long that I sometimes forget that not everyone understands the purposes of hashtags—it’s easy to forget that every day new people arrive at the site and wonder what the hell they are, too—just like I did!

No, they’re not just random, and neither are they a magic secret that everyone knows about except you (which is what I thought at first….). They have seven basic uses, as far as I can see, which I will outline here:

Expanding the reach of your tweets

I’ve talked before about the blog share hashtags such as #SundayBlogShare and #TuesdayBookBlog. It’s not all about blogs, though; there’s also #FolkloreThursday, #MusicMonday, #MondayMotivation #FridayReads, #WordlessWednesday and so many more, which can be used for blog posts and other stuff, too. The idea is that you retweet others on the hashtag (just click on it, go to ‘Accounts’ and click on ‘Tweets’, and you see them all), and they retweet you, thus ever widening everyone’s Twitter ‘reach’. If you’re not using these, you should be!

Attracting those with interest in a certain topic

Say you’ve written a book that’s set in Cornwall, or you have a business that’s set there, or you’re posting a photograph that you took. If you hashtag #Cornwall in your tweet, it will be seen by anyone who puts #Cornwall in the search. Many cities, towns and counties have their special hour on Twitter, too; if you put, for instance, #NorthantsHour into the search, you will find the account for that hashtag, and, thus, find out when it is (Thursday 8-9 pm, actually, I just looked!). Then you can tweet during that time with the hashtag—and, as before, retweet others for maximum effect. These are used mostly for business advertising and events, but not exclusively.

For writers or tweets about writing and books, if you add #amwriting, #writers, #writetip, #amreading or #writerslifestyle to your tweet, you will get lots more retweets, as some people who used automated apps to run their accounts will set them to RT certain hashtags. I’m sure there are others, for writers and indeed for other subjects; it’s just a matter of doing a bit of research

Finding like-minded people to follow

You might want to up your following and don’t know how. Okay, say you’re interested in jazz. Put #jazz in the search, click on ‘Accounts’, and you’ll find everyone else who’s into it. If you add it to your tweets, this will gain new followers too, because others who put #jazz into the search will find YOU!

Specific events/ideas

Some people do live Twitter chats or promotions, and decide on a hashtag for that particular event. #RosieAmberParty for instance (that’s not real, by the way, I just made it up!). Say a live chat lasts for two hours and you want to take part, you just put the hashtag on your tweet and it will appear in the stream with all the other participants, so you and they can talk to each other. The recent #BloggersBash was similar, to let people know the news about the event in London, and the blog award results.

Similarly, some people tweet about a particular TV/Radio programme, while it’s on: #TheArchers or #The Apprentice, for instance. Most popular programmes have their own hashtag, often started by the production company. Or about a news item: #Brexit, #VoteLeave, #VoteRemain, etc, or something current, like #Wimbledon or #WorldCup2014, #GayPride or whatever. Fans of a certain programme, celebrity or group (you will, no doubt, have seen many about teeny bopper crooners One Direction…) make various hashtags so like-minded Twitterers can join in.

Hashtag as description: indicating the subject matter of a book, film etc

If you’re tweeting about a book, it’s general practice to add the genre/location/subject, etc of the book so that people who might be interested in it will click the link: #YA #Fantasy #Steampunk #VictorianMurderMystery #Romance #Chicago #DomesticViolence, etc etc, or anthing that will tell people what the book is about. This is SO worth doing. I recently discovered a new favourite author (Ann Swinfen), simply because she’d put #17thCentury #The Fens on a tweet for one of her books. She’s since gained several sales and some wonderful reviews from me; this also illustrates the power of the retweet: I had never heard of her, but her tweet was RTd by someone I knew. Musicians might add #rock or #country—you get the general idea!

Playing games

Hashtag games: I love them. You will have seen such things as #MakeAFilmSmaller or #FoodFilms. Many of them are all about clever plays on words; just click on the hashtag and you’ll see what’s going on. Another good way of finding people who would normally be outside your Twitter circle. Great fun, too!

Amusement

Lots of people use hashtags for humorous asides. For instance, you might be tweeting something about your day:

‘Can’t get myself going today…. #StayingInBed’.

Or ‘When’s it going to stop raining? #FlamingJune’.

Or ‘Did anyone seeMichael McIntyre on #JonathanRoss last night? #WhatAnIdiot’.

This isn’t an ‘official’ use of the hashtag and there are no rules to it, it’s just something people do!

And finally—How NOT to use them

Hashtagging random words

‘My guest #post on how to make the #perfect cupcakes!‘

Pointless, and looks silly. If anything, hashtag the word #cupcakes.

Writing the title of your book as a hashtag

Unless stacks of people are likely to be tweeting or searching for information about it, there’s little point. If you want it to stand out, you’re better off typing it in capital letters.

Using too many

‘New #blog post: #Authors #Writers #HowTo increase your #blog traffic

#Blog #Bloggers #Blogging #Advice #Goals #MondayMotivation’

Yes, it will hit all those hashtags and it’s clear what it’s about, but it looks as if it’s trying to cover all bases, and as if it’s a bit hard sell, rather than an interesting article you might want to look at.

Adding the hashtag when your tweet is nothing to do with its subject

For instance, tweeting about a jewellery product you’re trying to sell and adding the hashtag #TuesdayBookBlog. Or a tweet about your horror book with #MondayMotivation. People do this to try to attract more views, but it just makes them look idiotic/desperate/a bit cheeky. It’s known as hashtag abuse, and will probably get you blocked by the hashtag administrator (if there is one), or even reported to Twitter for spam.

Hashtag Hogging

This is when people use a hashtag like #SundayBlogShare and tweet every single blog post they’ve ever written, all at once. Will be more likely to get you blocked by people than have them read your posts.

I think I’ve covered every eventuality here! Using hashtags the right way can make so much difference to your Twitterly life; I hope it’s helped.

Here on Wednesday Wing we bring you useful Tips and Notes.

Twitter Tips

Part 3: Retweeting and post sharing

Twitter is a fast moving, constantly changing site. It’s said that the average life of a tweet is around 18 minutes, after which it fades away into oblivion. However, if you are only able to tweet once a day, building up a good network of people with whom you retweet regularly will mean that your posts will get exposure not just for hours but possibly for days to come.

Here’s how to make retweeting work best for you:

‘Pin’ a tweet to the top of your page. This makes it easy for anyone who clicks onto your page to retweet (RT) you. To do this, click on the three little dots at the bottom of the tweet, and select ‘Pin to your profile page’.

Change your pinned tweet frequently, at least twice a week; if people have already RTd it they might just click off your page without looking for anything else to RT. Also, it’s good to vary your posts.

Retweet with discretion. Retweeting rubbish, out of date stuff or random conversation is a fast way to lose followers. Although it’s nice to return a favour, RTing any old thing just for the sake of reciprocation is pointless. When I first started on the site I thought I had to return every one and used to do three daily sessions—it was ridiculous, took two hours out of each working day. Then one day I thought, this is crazy, and stopped. The world didn’t end (and I didn’t sell any less books).

It’s not all about you. Just because something doesn’t interest you, it doesn’t mean it won’t interest your followers. I RT quite a few ‘mummy blogs’, for instance; I have zero interest in parenting but that doesn’t mean that my followers wouldn’t like to read them.

Overkill: don’t do 100 RTs at a time. This makes it look as if you’re doing it via an app, and it can annoy followers who don’t want to see hundreds of tweets from people they haven’t chosen to follow. I think doing a few sessions during the day of around 5-10 is a good plan, though of course this isn’t always possible.

Thanking people for RTs: Most long term Twitter users agree there’s no point, and getting loads of ‘thanks for the RT’ tweets can get on people’s nerves, especially those ones that say “Thank you for RTing the amazing new review for Fabulous Book, Part One of The Best Selling Chronicles” ~ it just looks like a final grab at a bit more promotion. A RT back is thanks enough. Remember, a RT is better than a TY!

A word aboutRetweeting Apps: Just Say No.

Some people use a retweeting app called Roundteam. How do you spot those who use it?

Somewhere high on their timeline they will have a tweet advertising the app.

They will RT you the moment you post a new tweet, or tweet a certain word.

Their timelines consist of hundreds of retweets and little else.

If you make a comment to them via tweet, they don’t reply.

The people who use these apps rarely appear on Twitter in person, so they don’t see your tweets, your comments, your blog posts, your book promotions; they just programme certain accounts, key words and hashtags into the app, to be retweeted whenever they appear.

Don’t be tempted to use these apps; this isn’t social networking, and your timeline will be nothing but a stream of retweeted promotions for people like me who never return the favour. I retweet people, not robots.

NB: There are a few exceptions, ie, people who use Roundteam and appear on Twitter as well; one very generous lady I know, for instance, has medical problems that prevent her from sitting at a computer for a long time, so such an app means she can help her friends. You usually discover who these people are because they talk to you now and again, too!

Above all, don’t get bogged down with the retweeting thing. A while back a friend said to me that she came to dread the daily RT session, as indeed did I. It’s nice to do your bit, but if it becomes a chore it’s just daft.

Post Sharing

This is when you actually share someone else’s post via a tweet of your own, rather than just retweeting it. Most people do it via the share button on a blog; I don’t, so don’t know much about it, but Rosie has given some tips about it here:

Social networking is about generosity; if you read a good blog post, it’s a great idea to tweet saying ‘Excellent post by @username about blah blah’, with the link. I love it when people share my posts, I feel so pleased that someone has liked one enough to do so!

A few tips on post sharing:

Don’t forget to tag the author in the post with their @username, so that they know you’ve shared and can RT your tweet.

Don’t automatically share every single post that comes into your email inbox. Check them out first to make sure it’s something you actively want to share.

Overkill: if virtually all your tweets are shares of others’ posts, be aware that these will get retweeted rather than tweets about your own posts/books, most of the time. If you’re happy with that, that’s okay!

Welcome To Wednesday Wing

Here we pass on Tips and advice to the Book Community

Today Terry Tyler is bringing us Part 1 in a series of #TwitterTips follow Terry @TerryTyler4

#TwitterTips

Part 1: Getting more followers

Rosie @rosieamber1 asked me to write a few short guest posts about how to get the most out of Twitter, so I’m starting with the basics—getting followers.

Much of Twitter’s effectivity is down to how many eyes see your tweets—so whether you’re promoting your book or your blog, growing your business or just hoping to entertain people/get your voice heard, it makes sense to give that number a boost now and again.

At the time of writing I have 72.3K followers, with very little effort – and no, I didn’t buy them! Don’t ever be tempted to do that, as those for sale are not real profiles, but spam accounts. Yes, a proportion of my followers are accounts trying to get me to buy followers, or porn stuff, people who don’t speak English or general spamming, but I do get followed by many real and interesting people every day.

I’ve found that once you get to around 10K followers, and if you are active on the site (using it most days, retweeting others), your following grows automatically, because you appear on the ‘Who To Follow’ lists.

Here’s how to expand your following:

Follow others. Sounds obvious, but many don’t bother. Pro-active following will make you appear on ‘Who To Follow’ lists, too.

How to find the right people? Enter the subjects that interest you into ‘Search Twitter’ at the top right hand side of the screen. For instance, you might choose ‘bookworm’, ‘book bloggers’, ‘history’, ‘reading’ ‘traveller’, etc. Then click on ‘People’. This will give you a list of all the people with that word mentioned in their bio.

You can also put hashtags into the search, for instance #bookblogger #author #SciFiWriter #TuesdayBookBlog #bookreview, etc, and seek out People in the same way.

Just following 10 or 20 accounts every time you log on will soon get it all moving.

When you RT people on hashtag days such as #TuesdayBookBlog or #MondayBlogs, follow them, too, and follow anyone who RTs you. This helps to expand your reach out of your usual circles.

You’ve seen #FF, the Follow Friday hashtag? Use it! Click on any user names mentioned—any mentioned by others will be active Twitter users who interact, retweet and post interesting stuff.

Click on your ‘followers’ every day, and follow back anyone who looks useful/interesting. Don’t follow back spam or pointless profiles, or you’ll end up getting followed by more and more of them; it’s best to block them.

That should get it all moving! I started trying to grow mine about three years ago, just before I started a free promotion for a book; I was determined that as many people should see it as possible, so made it my aim to get to 10K followers. Just out of interest, I’d like to mention that my proofreading sister, @ProofreadJulia, has developed her whole successful business entirely through Twitter, from my original tuition about the site. Of course she is very good at what she does, and has a good business sense, but this just goes to show how powerful Twitter can be if used to its full potential.